Hyperthermia in Fibromyalgia Syndrome

A Randomised Sham-controlled Study on the Effectiveness of Mild Water-filtered Infrared-A Whole-body Hyperthermia in Improving Symptoms and Quality of Life in Patients With Fibromyalgia Syndrome

This study will examine the effectiveness of water-filtered whole-body hyperthermia during an outpatient setting in patients with fibromyalgia.

The duration of the study is about 3 weeks with two treatment units per week and a passive period (follow-up measurement) of 24 weeks after the outpatient setting.

A total of about 40 participants over 18 years of age are sought, who will be divided into two groups of equal size after inclusion in the study. All participants will receive the same amount of water-filtered whole-body hyperthermia within the outpatient setting. One group receives the gentle form of GKHT, the other group receives the classic, mild GHKT. All abnormalities are documented by the responsible therapists, doctors and nurses. Changes in the area of pain and functional limitations as well as the intake of required medication are also recorded.

Before the start and after the completion of the studies, within the clinical stay, blood parameters were collected. In order to determine the secondary effectiveness of different questionnaire values are also collected. These are also documented after week 12 and after week 24, by means of telephone enquiries.

Inclusion Criteria:

• confirmed diagnosis of fibromyalgia (FSQ)
• Pain VAS >= 4,0
• Signed declaration of consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• Participation in other clinical studies
• Contraindications for hyperthermia (severe cardiovascular diseases, tumour diseases, acute infections, pregnant and breastfeeding women)
• Acute and / or feverish microbial infections
• Patients with severe somatic, rheumatic concomitant endocrine or neurological diseases, in particular neurological diseases associated with cognitive disorders, severe liver or kidney and cardiac diseases
• Patients who are permanently treated with opioids, cannabis, immunosuppressive drugs (e.g. corticoids, immunosuppressants) or alpha/beta-A(nta)gonists due to a disease from the group described above
• Patients with pain due to a serious psychiatric illness (bipolar disorder, psychosis, personality disorder, severe depression, substance abuse) and serious systemic or neurological disorders